The Clinton Community College Center for Governance recently hosted a Women in Politics forum. It brought to the stage current and retired women to discuss their careers in politics and community service.
Plattsburgh, New York Town Councilor Barb Hebert first ran in 2016 and has now served on that board for seven years. She began the forum by discussing the barriers she considered before running for office.
“There are times where you just need to plunge in. The question isn’t why and you start looking at your confidence level if you should run or do this. But it was more why not? So I decided just to jump in.”
Retired legislator Sara Rowden was on the Clinton County Legislature 2000 to 2013. In 2016 she served an additional six months filling a vacant term. She says just before the forum she found an essay on her computer she had forgotten she wrote on what she learned as a county legislator.
“It said there were three rules that guided me in my political career. Keep perspective, don’t take it personal and keep your sense of humor. And I tried to always do that.”
Plattsburgh businesswoman Patty Waldron has served in the Clinton County Legislature representing Area 6 for 10 years. She says she was happy being in business and was approached three times before deciding to run. She has a couple more years before term limits block a reelection run, a policy she supports.
"I think it’s a good rule. And as I get older there’s younger views especially with the issues we’re dealing with today nationally. I think it’s very important that we move on.”
The trio discussed whether party labels are important at the local level. Rowden says during her tenure the legislature prided itself on bipartisanship.
“We came close to a gender line but we never had a party line vote. And it had been a fairly partisan legislature before we came on and we made some changes. And I think it set the stage for future legislatures.”
Asked how they deal with sexism and discrimination, Rowden noted that its not just women dealing with bias in politics.
“It took a long time for women to get into politics and there are still some struggles. And the recent issue that has occurred in Tennessee shows we’re still living with a lot of that lack of diversity and discrimination. But taking this back to women. Women tend to look at things broader and more of how a decision is going to impact on a community wide basis. That’s why it’s important for women to be in politics.”
Waldron weighed in, noting that women haven’t reached political equity yet.
“We’re getting there but there’s this old guard out there strong-holding, really insecure of the fact that we actually might break through. And it’s a different generation now coming up. So I think women in politics is seriously important right now.”
Other topics that were discussed during the forum included the challenges of getting younger women interested in politics, the impact of national polarization in politics and committee work and responsibilities.
Audio is courtesy of Mountain Lake PBS.
